Hello!

Not much to say considering that this is the first chapter, but I hope this introduction provides you with some insight in terms of my OC's life before the outbreak.

I hope you enjoy!

I do not own the Walking Dead, the exception being that of my OC.

Scarlett had woken up for the first time in a while without a pounding in her skull or a weight in her chest. A wave of dread had not washed over her at the thought of facing another tiring day. Her body wasn't drenched in sweat and shaking, no cry coming from her lips. She had almost wondered if she had woken up in a different body.

It felt odd to her, feeling normal for once.

A yawn tumbled from her lips as she stood up and shuffled towards the door of her room. She strolled down the hallway silently, knowing that her sister wouldn't be up for school until seven. A morning of peace and quiet was needed, a fresh paper lying on the counter downstairs just waiting to be read. Making a quick cup of coffee and washing her hands adequately, she sat down at the kitchen island and began her reading.

A part of her wondered why she even read the paper. It was horror story after horror story, with the occasional trivial achievement that was thrown in the paper in the hopes of not depressing the public. Scarlett couldn't remember the last time the local paper had actually made her smile, let alone feel another emotion besides depressed.

She placed the paper back on the counter and took a sip of her coffee, feeling its warmth seep into her stomach. Her eyes fell on the vase full of Peruvian lilies that sat on the kitchen counter. Its striped pink petals immediately calmed her mind, a mild warm-heartedness spreading through her chest at the sight of the bouquet. Close friends had gifted them to her, knowing that they were her favorite among the flower kingdom.

With a soft exhale, Scarlett stood up and made her way towards the small radio they owned, pressing one of its buttons as music gently filled the room. She figured Victoria would be up soon and decided to get dressed as her feet lead her up the stairs.

Twenty minutes later and dressed in her running wear, Scarlett returned to hear lyrics on the radio:

All our times have come

Here but now they're gone

Seasons don't fear the reaper

Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain, we can be like they are

Come on baby, don't fear the reaper

Baby take my hand, don't fear the reaper

We'll be able to fly, don't fear the reaper

Baby I'm your man.

A soft laugh erupted from her lips and a shake of the head quickly followed as the familiar weight came back to sit on her chest. She turned her attention to the kitchen again and began making breakfast. Pulling the bacon and eggs from the fridge, she grabbed two pans and placed them on the stove. Flicking the burners on, Scarlett got to work.

Two omelets and a plate of bacon later, Scarlett turned to pop the bread into the toaster.

"Wow, you're actually home."

Scarlett almost dropped the knife in her hand at the sudden voice behind her. Turning to see the messy ginger hair and tired eyes of her sister, it shocked Scarlett at how much older her baby sister was beginning to look. It had only been the two of them for a while now, and even though she spent almost every waking minute with her, she was growing up before the elder's eyes.

"Yeah, I have the day off." Scarlett said after a moment, looking back to pull the toast from the toaster.

"The hospital actually gave you a day off?" Victoria asked, still surprised as the smell of food drew her further into the kitchen.

"Believe it or not," Scarlett said with quirk of her eyebrow, pushing the plates closer to her sister as she sat down at the kitchen island. "Eat up or you'll be late."

"I've decided I'm not going today." Victoria stated casually, taking a piece of bacon and placing it in her mouth.

"Oh really."

"Yep."

"How come?"

"You know why."

Scarlett sighed and turned to quickly wash her hands.

"How long has this been going on now?" She asked, watching the water run across her knuckles.

"I don't know but it's getting annoying! He won't leave me alone," Victoria cried, filling her mouth with toast. "He even used the 'I lack Vitamin U' line."

Scarlett turned back to her sister with a look that was somewhere between surprised and repulsed.

"You need to cut that boy off soon."

"Figuratively or literally?"

The elder sister shrugged as the younger let out a soft course of laughter. Scarlett hadn't heard that sound in what seemed like forever, causing her own smile to stretch across her face.

"Just tell him to buzz off. If he tries anything or doesn't listen, I give you permission to punch him."

"Sweet," Victoria laughed before pointing at Scarlett with a piece of bacon in hand. "So how's your nonexistent love life going? I would say better than mine but at least I have one."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow at the jab and sat down across from her sister and snatched the piece of bacon from her fingers.

"If I had feelings, you would have hurt them." Scarlett bit into the piece of meat as her sister laughed.

"I'm serious. Nobody has caught your attention over these past few years?" The younger sister pushed.

"I've been too busy with work and looking after you."

"I'm sixteen! I can look after myself. You need to start going out. I know the anniversary just passed but-"

"Maybe eventually, Tori. But not now." Scarlett said in a much more serious voice than she had expected. She hadn't missed the slight widening of Victoria's eyes at her tone and knew that she had startled her sister as well.

"I'm sorry, my tone was way out of line…"

"It's alright, I understand," her sister said, staring at the older sibling with a worried gaze. "I'm gonna go get dressed and then I'll head to school."

Victoria left without another word and Scarlett watched as her sister climbed the stairs. Once she heard the close of her bedroom door, Scarlett rested her head on top of the kitchen island. She didn't have a right to snap at her baby sister, not like that at least. Not about things she didn't understand or didn't know about. It wasn't her fault that she was young when their mother had passed away. She had gone through a different sort of pain than Scarlett had.

Scarlett had the pleasure of dealing with their father.

She lifted her head up off the table, knowing that stirring in those kind of thoughts would only trigger much worse. A few more bites were taken out of her omelet before tossing it away in the garbage. She gathered the dirty plates and cleaned them, hearing Victoria shout a goodbye as she raced down the stairs and out the front door. Scarlett made a mental note to apologize again to her when she got home from school.

The absence of her sister was only making the weight in her chest worse as she let out a shaky breath. She couldn't stay in the house any longer, knowing that the feeling would only get worse over time. A morning run was exactly what she needed.

Throwing on her shoes and placing her headphones in her ears, Scarlett left the house and began jogging at a steady pace. She watched as parents walked their kids to school, realizing that she probably should have waited an hour or two before leaving the house to avoid the traffic.

Thankfully, the streets eventually cleared and Scarlett ran in peace, passing by multiple neighborhoods and the occasional store. She even ended up running through the local park, much to her surprise; she couldn't even remember how she ended up under the shade of the park's trees.

While the run was supposed to be more of a distraction, all Scarlett could do was think. Think about what work tomorrow would bring, what her conversation with Victoria would be like tonight, and how she was going to move on with her life. She felt like she was in limbo, not living but not dead either. Just there for nothing more but placement.

Sucking in a big breath of air, Scarlett let out a huff of frustration. Maybe she would take up Lori on her offer about dinner together with her family. It would do the two of them some good to be in the company of others.

With that small bubble of drive, she began running once again, not really paying attention to where her feet were taking her. The steady beat of her music and her heart was all that she could hear while she tried to focus on staying calm and collected. The running was helping, that she was sure of, but she didn't know how much longer she could keep going.

As fate had it, Scarlett ended up near one of the town's local burger joints. A cruel bit on reality's part, in her opinion. Carbs sounded amazing right about now.

"Hey! If it isn't our favorite ginger!"

Scarlett knew who the voice belonged to even before she turned to see the police car sitting in the parking lot beside the burger joint. She could pin point that self-righteous tone anywhere.

Exhaling slowly and pulling out her ear buds, Scarlett jogged towards the cop car.

"You know, I'm fine with all the nicknames, I really am, but could you not yell them across the street like a crazy person?" She questioned, peering into the passenger's side window to see both Shane Walsh and Rick Grimes eating French fries out of a paper bag.

"Sorry, Holloway," Shane said, giving her a quick wink. "You not working today?"

"No, I got the day off."

"Really?" Rick asked, leaning over to look at her properly. "Who knew paramedics got days off?"

"I know, I haven't had a day off for months now," Scarlett sighed before looking back at Rick. "How're things with the family?"

The man didn't have to answer her question with words, his expression was enough for her to know that things were definitely not okay.

"Shit, Rick. I'm sorry."

"Lori asked him if he even cared about them right in front of Carl." Shane spoke up, not looking that happy either.

Scarlett let out a sigh. Lori was sweet and caring, but she could be harsh at the most inappropriate times. The woman had showered nothing but kindness and love over the two sisters, but the occasional comment would slip from her lips and totally catch them off guard.

"And you? How're you and Victoria holding up?" Rick asked, breaking the silence and making Scarlett let out a deep sigh.

"We're…holding," she said, looking at both men. "She seems to be holding up fine. If anything, I'm the one that's struggling."

"That's to be expected. You've got a lot on your plate, darlin'." Shane stated, causing her to shrug.

"I suppose you're right."

A beat of silence passed, nothing awkward in the air. A comfort fell over Scarlett whenever she talked with the two men, even if Shane did drive her nuts sometimes. They were like her extended family, always looking out for her and her sister. She owed them a lot, more than what she'll ever be able to repay.

Static over the radio in the car broke the silence and grabbed all of their attention.

"All available units. High speed pursuit in progress. Linden County East. Request local assistance," a woman's voice could be heard through the static. "Highway eighteen east bound. GTA ADW 217 243. Advise extreme caution."

The two men quickly gathered all of their burger scraps and threw them into one of the paper bags.

"You coming, Holloway?" Shane asked, causing Scarlett to gap at him in question.

"You serious?" She asked, looking over at Rick for any kind of consolation.

"We might need a paramedic near by, just to be safe." Rick said, though he didn't look exactly pleased with the idea.

"If you get in trouble for this, I swear…" Scarlett mumbled as she climbed into the back seat of the police car.

Rick hit the gas before she even began reaching for her seat belt as Shane managed to toss out their bag of wrappers and untouched fries into the garbage bin nearby. The car's sirens began without a moment of hesitation as they sped down the King County roads.

Eventually, they were driving down highway eighteen with another police cruiser behind them for backup.

"Suspects are two Caucasian men. Be advised, they have fired upon police officers. One Linden County officer is wounded."

The car came to a screeching halt as both Shane and Rick jumped out of the car and ran around back to grab their spike strip.

"It would have been nice to know that they were shooting at the police ten minutes ago…" Scarlett mumbled to herself as she watched the two men set up their trap.

Both men came running back to the car and once seated, Rick switched to reverse and began speeding backwards towards the other police car.

"Just because I'm here doesn't give you an excuse to be reckless, boys!" Scarlett cried as Shane let loose a bark of laughter.

The cruiser came to a stop without any damage being done, much to Scarlett's content. Rick and Shane both exited the car, as did the two other officers, and prepared for what came next. Scarlett stayed in the cruiser.

"Sounds like they're chasing those idiots up and down every back road we've got." One of the officers said as the men loaded their guns.

"Maybe we'll get on one of those video shows, y'know, like world's craziest police chases. Whaddya think?" The other said, giving Rick a sideways glance.

"What I think, Leon, is you need to stay focused. And make sure you've got a round in the chamber and your safety off." Rick replied, watching as the younger man looked at his unloaded gun with its safety on.

In other circumstances, Scarlett would have laughed.

"Would be kinda cool to get on one of them shows." Shane said, receiving a look from Rick and Scarlett let loose a laugh.

Her laugh quickly grabbed the attention of the two other officers, who gave both Shane and Rick pointed looks.

"You brought a girl with you?" One asked.

"Relax. It's Holloway. Figured we could use the help if we need it." Shane said, drawing their attention back to the road in front of them.

Scarlett could hear the fast-approaching sirens from inside the police cruiser and watched as Rick and Shane both tensed up, awaiting the chaos that was coming their way. Over the small hill in the road, a silver mustang appeared, followed by two other police cars. The mustang was driving at a dangerously fast speed and all they could do was watch the front tires run over the spike strip.

The tires immediately blew out, causing the car to turn up on its nose and skid across the highway before finally tipping over. Barrel roll after barrel roll, the silver mustang continued to flip as parts flew off the car with shocking speed before the car eventually came to a horrific stop on its roof.

"Jesus Christ." Scarlett whispered with her eyes wide, watching as smoke rolled off the car.

The pursuing officers got out of their cruisers cautiously, guns all pointed towards the pile of smoking metal. One of the passenger doors was kicked open as a bloodied man crawled out holding a gun, quickly pointing it at the men.

"Gun! Gun!" A cop yelled.

"Put it down!" Rick demanded, only for the man to begin firing in their direction.

Gunshots began firing from every gun in sight, many bullets not finding their target. Scarlett watched in horror as one of the bullets hit Rick in the stomach. Without hesitation, Shane began firing crazily at the suspect, bullets catching the man in three different spots before he finally went down.

As she was about to get out of the car to check on Rick, two more men popped up from behind the car and began firing. One of the bullets lodged into the window shield of the car, causing both Scarlett and Shane to duck for cover. She crawled out of the back seat and crouched beside Shane, who stood back up to continue shooting bullets towards the car.

After a moment of silence, it seemed like the firefight had ceased.

"Rick!" Shane yelled, running towards his best friend and Scarlett followed behind him.

"I'm alright!" He called, still on the ground reloading his gun.

Scarlett quickly approached Rick and crouched down to his level, looking him up and down for any signs of a wound. The man was wheezing heavily but she couldn't see any blood.

"I saw you get tagged, man. That scared the hell out of me." Shane said, his voice ragged with adrenaline.

"Me too," Rick wheezed, slowly getting up to his feet. "That son of a bitch shot me. You believe that?"

"You wearing your vest?" She asked, peering into Rick's face.

"Yeah, thankfully," he said, looking down at the hole in his shirt before giving the other two a look. "You two cannot tell Lori that happened. Ever. You understa-"

A sharp gunshot rang through the air, a yell coming from Rick's mouth as blood flew from his side. He fell to the ground and Scarlett came down with him as Shane began firing shots in the direction of the car. It appeared as though they hadn't killed all of the men.

"Fuck," Scarlett mumbled as she tore away at his shirt and vest, revealing a blood soaked t-shirt underneath. "Shane! He's been hit!"

"No, no, no, no," Shane murmured as he crouched down beside her. "He's hit! Leon! You get that ambulance down here and tell them there's an officer down! You do it now!"

"Shane, apply pressure to the wound. I don't have anything with me right now so we're just going to have to keep him alive until the ambulance gets here," Scarlett said, her brain kicking into overdrive. "Rick, I'm gonna need you to keep looking at Shane or I. I need you to keep your eyes open."

"Did the bullet go through?" Shane asked, his hands quickly staining with blood. Scarlett took off her sweater and handed it to Shane, hoping that it would help slow the blood flowing out of the wound.

"I don't know," She answered, watching as Rick's eyelids began fluttering softly. "Shit. Where is that ambulance?"

Not a moment too soon, it came flying along the highway towards them. Some of the best had come while all the police officers helped place Rick on a gurney. Scarlett grabbed one of the oxygen masks handed to her and quickly placed it over Rick's mouth. Shane, Scarlett, and the rest of the paramedics quickly got into the ambulance and left as soon as they had come.

"I need some dressing and bandages over here!" Scarlett yelled, one of her coworkers hastily passing her a stack of bandages.

"You're not gonna clean it first?" Shane asked, looking up from his wounded best friend at her.

"We need to stop the bleeding, that's what's important," she answered, removing bandages from their packages. "Okay, I'm gonna need you to lift the pressure off his wound on the count of three. One, two, three."

Shane took his palms and her sweater off of Rick's wound, Scarlett not missing the bubble of blood that oozed from the opening before quickly placing the bandages on top. As she would go to open up another bandage, the other paramedic would apply pressure to the wound. Once another bandage was ready, her coworker moved to allow her to place her bandage down and the process continued. Scarlett was trying to ignore the fact that this was a friend that she was trying to save, someone who had helped her in more ways than she could even remember. The fearful looks that Shane kept giving her weren't exactly helping the situation.

Upon arrival to the hospital, the emergency doctors quickly swarmed Rick and rolled him away as Scarlett went along and informed the head doctor of what happened, what the victim's condition was like, and any other important information that was needed. Once all was said, she let the doctors take him away and quickly ran back to speak with Shane.

The next few hours were draining. Shane had filled out a few forms before going to get Lori to tell her about what happened. Scarlett had her own forms to fill out and didn't realize until halfway through her paper work that her hands were still soaked with Rick's blood. A full twenty minutes went into her scrubbing her hands raw before immediately going back to her work. When Shane had returned, he had brought a sobbing Lori with him. The woman pulled Scarlett into her arms and continued to sob, not understanding what she was saying but nonetheless listening.

When Rick's doctor returned, he informed them that Rick had gone into a coma due to blood loss.

It was the final blow to the head for Scarlett, her calm facade slowly slipping into that of sorrow. She watched as Lori broke down and sank to the hospital floor as a distraught Shane attempted to comfort her. None of it seemed real. This was Rick Grimes, sheriff deputy in King County. The man who made an amazing best friend and a loving husband. The man that put his life on the line to make sure justice was served. The man who had helped fix her dishwasher at two in the morning because it would have flooded the kitchen otherwise.

Rick Grimes had practically adopted both Scarlett and her sister. And now she wasn't sure if she would ever get the chance to truly thank him again.

After a while, the doctors let Lori and Shane in to see Rick while Scarlett was urged to go home and rest. As much as she wanted to see Rick, she wasn't sure if it would do her any good to see him in his comatose state. She felt horrid enough as it was. A bloody sweater in hand, Scarlett left the hospital and slowly made her way home. She had roughly an hour before Victoria got home, which gave her enough time to shower and pour herself some whiskey.

She could still feel Rick's blood on her hands and under her nails, leaving her scrubbing at her hands for the majority of the shower. Once the water had turned cold and her hands had become tender, Scarlett gradually got out and dried her aching body. A fresh pair of pajamas could be found in her drawer and she slipped them on gingerly.

Finally back downstairs, Scarlett immediately went to the liquor cabinet and grabbed the new bottle of Jack Daniel's. A fresh glass and ice were acquired soon after, pouring the golden liquid out of the bottle. She brought the glass to her lips and felt the whiskey wash down her throat with a burning sensation that made her grimace. The first sip was always the worst anyways.

Scarlett heard the lock of the front door click and open, seeing her sister walk down the hall out of the corner of her eye. The older sister tried her best to look busy gazing down at the few bills that needed to be paid. She was almost positive that it made her look even more out of place.

"Rough day off?" She heard Victoria ask as the younger sister came to sit down across from her.

"That obvious?" Scarlett questioned, looking down at her drink.

"You nursing a whiskey kind of gave it away." Victoria stated as Scarlett brought the glass to her lips.

"I don't like the fact that you know how to use that term," she said and the younger scoffed before silence fell between them. Scarlett figured she owed it to her sister to tell her what was going on, even if she didn't like it. "I saw Rick Grimes get shot today."

"Are you serious?" Victoria asked, eyes wide with shock. "Is he okay?"

"He's in a coma."

Another beat of silence. It was obvious that Victoria felt the same way as Scarlett when it came to seeing the Grimes' as family. They might not live under the same roof as them, but knowing they would be there for two girls and vice versa was a part of the reason why Scarlett slept at night. Victoria had even babysat Carl when the couple needed a night out.

"And I thought I had a bad day." Victoria finally mumbled, staring at the counter top of the kitchen island.

"What happened?"

"Told the creep to buzz off but he just wasn't listening. Ended up punching him in-between the eyes," she explained, placing her bruised knuckles out onto the table. "I've got detention for a week."

Scarlett let out a large sigh as she stared at her sister's injured hand.

"Did he at least cry?"

"Like a baby."

A smile split across Scarlett's face for a brief moment, only for it to disappear as she stood up from her seat to fetch the first aid kit. Once in hand, she sat beside her sister and ushered the younger to give her the injured hand. While she knew it would hurt for now with the stinging of the alcohol and the irritation of the bandages, the pain would eventually subside into a slight ache, followed by soreness until it was fully healed.

As did most things in life, it would take time to heal the wound. It made Scarlett wondered why she was still licking at some of hers.

First Chapter Complete!

I'm excited to continue expanding with the story, so please anticipate future chapters and leave a review! Feedback is always welcome.

Also, for those of you that have read my HP fic, you've probably noticed that my OC in this story shares the same name as my HP OC's cat. I would have changed it, but I got so attached to this character, especially for her name. Plus, I wasn't even sure I'd ever post this and now I've grown too fond of it to change her name. I hope you understand!

**The title of this story came from the song 'Blood in the Cut' by , though it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the contents of this fic lol**

Will update as soon as I can,

- GuiltyCalamity